US tourists fined for vandalizing Rome’s Spanish Steps with scooters

Two American tourists have been fined and temporarily banned from Rome’s historic center after causing damage to the Spanish Steps with electric scooters.

This incident, captured on surveillance cameras, comes just weeks after a Saudi national was arrested for allegedly driving a rented Maserati sports car down the 18th-century monument, causing further damage.

Local police intercepted the tourists, aged 28 and 29, at around 2:45 a.m. on June 3 after a scooter was thrown down the famous steps, also known as Trinità dei Monti.

According to the city’s Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage, 'A pair of American tourists threw a scooter three times down the steps of Trinità dei Monti, damaging the third-to-last travertine step on the second ramp near the San Sebastianello climb.'

Cost of restoration

The two were each fined €400, in line with the Urban Police Regulations, according to the authorities.

The woman also faced charges for damaging a historic monument after she intentionally threw the scooter she was riding down the stairs, police reported.

The man and woman were prohibited from entering the area around the Spanish Steps for two days, according to police.

In May, border police detained a 37-year-old Saudi man at Milan’s international airport after he drove a rented Maserati down the iconic stone staircase and left it abandoned.

The Maserati caused cracks in two steps and left behind 'extensive chipping, scratches, and abrasions.'

The Spanish Steps are one of Rome’s most iconic landmarks. Their name comes from the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, which is located in a nearby palace overlooking the square below.

A two-year, €1.5 million restoration of the Spanish Steps – featured in numerous films, including the 1953 classic 'Roman Holiday' with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck – was completed in 2015.

Image credit: Roma Polizia Capitale